Frequently Asked Questions

1. How does the convention help me?

When the government of your country has accepted this convention, they will
have to take a comprehensive set of measures to tackle all forms of violence
against women and domestic violence head on. Every single measure that the
convention contains is meant to help victims or to prevent violence in the first
place. For example, your government will have to:

• set up a national helpline to make sure that you get the
assistance or information you need;

• make sure that the police treats you with respect and
adequately when you report something as traumatising as having been beaten up by
your partner, sexually assaulted at a club or sexually harassed at work by your
boss – and that they carry out a proper investigation into your allegations;

• grant the police the power to immediately expel your violent
(ex-) partner, (ex-) husband or (ex-) boyfriend from the house so that you are
safe;

The convention creates a number of criminal offences, for example stalking,
sexual harassment and psychological violence. This means that you no longer have
to endure this type of behaviour at home or at work or need to feel ashamed
about it. Instead, you can go to the police and report this as a crime. Putting
a name to it and knowing it is a crime in your country will help you to have it
stopped.

2. Why a convention on violence against women and domestic violence?

Every day in Europe, women are stalked, harassed, raped, mutilated, forced by
their family to enter into a marriage, sterilised against their will or
psychologically and physically abused in the “safety” of their own homes. The
examples of violence against women are endless, its victims countless. Many
women are too afraid or ashamed to seek help, often paying for their silence
with their lives. Those that do speak out are not always heard. Domestic
violence is another form of violence that is far too common and that affects not
only women, but also men, children and the elderly.

The human suffering such violence causes is enormous. While most victims will
be left with physical and psychological scars haunting them for the rest of
their lives, others will in addition continue to live a life of fear and
persecution.

On top of this, such violence has severe financial costs for national
economies, by draining the resources from social services and the justice
system. To give an example, violence against women costs the Danish society
about
70 million euros per year, while the United Kingdom reports a
loss
of more than £37bn. Protecting women and combating this problem not only
saves lives, but also comes at a lesser financial cost to our societies.

Putting an end to this violence must be an important policy concern for any
government that is committed to ensuring the human rights of all. Over the past
20-30 years many important steps have been taken in a number of Council of
Europe member states, but existing legislation is often insufficiently enforced,
services for victims remain scarce or inadequately funded and sexist attitudes
prevail. Moreover, the legislation and support that are available vary greatly
from one country to the next, creating huge disparities in protection.
Developing a convention that contains a set of legally binding standards to
raise standards of protection and support is an important step towards a
comprehensive and harmonised response to violence against women and domestic
violence across Europe.

3. Does this convention just apply to women?

The convention applies to women more than it applies to men because it
covers forms of violence that only women experience (forced abortion, female
genital mutilation) or that women experience much more often than men (sexual
violence and rape, stalking, sexual harassment, domestic violence, forced
marriage, forced sterilisation). These forms of violence are a result of unequal
power relations between men and women. They are a consequence of discrimination
against women and are therefore important to tackle in order to achieve real
gender equality.

Some forms of violence covered by the convention such as forced marriage and
domestic violence are also experienced by men, although less often in numbers
and often in less severe forms. The convention recognises this and encourages
parties to the convention to apply its provisions to all victims of domestic
violence, including men, children and the elderly.

4. Does domestic violence just mean violence which takes place within the
walls of the home?

Domestic violence means physical, sexual, psychological or economic
violence that takes place within the family, within the domestic unit, or
between former or current spouses or partners. The perpetrator does not have to
live or have lived with the victim to make it domestic violence. This is
important because it means that the protection offered by the convention extends
to a victim who has separated from a violent partner and lives in his or her own
place but who is still under threat from the partner. It also includes violence
that occurs between boyfriend and girlfriend.

5. What is the added value of the convention?

By accepting the convention, governments are obliged to change their laws,
introduce practical measures and allocate resources to create a zero tolerance
zone for violence against women and domestic violence. Preventing and combating
such violence is no longer a matter of goodwill but a legally binding
obligation. For the first time in history, the convention makes it clear that
violence against women and domestic violence can no longer be considered as a
private matter but that states have an obligation to prevent violence, protect
victims and punish the perpetrators. This will help victims all over Europe.

6. What do governments have to do once they ratify the convention?

Once a country ratifies the convention, it becomes a party to the convention
(or state party). This means that the state commits itself to ensure that all
measures contained in the convention are duly implemented.

To give concrete examples, a party to the convention will have to take the
following measures:

Prevention

Put in place policies that are necessary to change attitudes, gender roles
and stereotypes that make violence against women acceptable; train professionals
working with victims; raise awareness of the different forms of violence and
their traumatising nature; co-operate with NGOs, the media and the private
sector to reach out to the public.

Protection

ensure that the needs and safety of victims are placed at the heart of all
measures; set up specialised support services that provide medical assistance as
well as psychological and legal counselling to victims and their children;
set-up shelters in sufficient numbers and introduce free of charge
round-the-clock telephone helplines.

Prosecution

ensure that all forms of violence against women and domestic violence are
criminalised and appropriately punished; ensure that excuses on the grounds of
culture, custom, religion or so-called “honour” are unacceptable for any act of
violence; ensure that victims have access to special protection measures during
investigation and judicial proceedings; ensure that law enforcement agencies
respond immediately to calls for assistance and manage dangerous situations
adequately.

Comprehensive policies

adopt comprehensive and co-ordinated policies that place the rights of
victims at the centre of all measures; Involve all relevant actors (government
agencies, national, regional and local authorities, civil society organisations
and many more) because there is not a single agency that can take on violence
against women and domestic violence on its own.

Monitoring

Report to the body responsible for monitoring the convention on the measures
taken to implement the convention.

7. When will the convention enter into force?

The Convention will enter into force once 10 countries have ratified it. 8
out of the 10 ratifications have to come from Council of Europe member states.

8. Who will make sure that governments are living up to their obligations?

This task will be carried out by a group of independent experts (GREVIO) and
the Committee of the Parties representing the governments that have become party
to the convention. On the basis of reports and country visits, the experts will
monitor compliance with the convention and, where necessary, help governments to
improve its implementation in a constructive way. The Committee of the Parties
can issue recommendations to the parties under review. If need be, it can also
set a date by which the party in question will have to provide information on
the action it has taken to comply with the recommendation.

9. Will ensuring more rights for women represent a threat to traditional
family structures?

The objective of the convention is not to regulate in any way family life
and/or family structures. The convention requires governments to ensure the
safety of victims who find themselves in dangerous situations at home or are
threatened by family members or partners. Neither does it contain a definition
of “family”, nor does it promote a particular type of family setting. Because
its aim is to address violence against women and domestic violence wherever it
occurs, it does not limit its application to legally married partners but
extends it to all partners, married or not, whether these are of the same or the
opposite sex. The aim is to avoid excluding certain groups of victims on the
basis of their marital status or sexual orientation. The convention does however
seek to change mentalities to move away from gender stereotypes and sexist
attitudes. Governments will need to tackle social and cultural patterns of
behaviour that perpetuate and reinforce violence against women. They will need
to do this by promoting a lifestyle of non-violent behaviour, respect for
equality between women and men and awareness of harmful gender stereotype and
traditional practices. It is only by making people understand how their everyday
behaviour factors in violence against women that change can happen.